


If I Fall You're Going Down With Me

by carmillachangedme



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, F/F, FWAU, Fake Wedding AU, Fluff, Hollstein - Freeform, Minor Hollence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-15 04:06:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4592292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carmillachangedme/pseuds/carmillachangedme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla is the top editor in New York City and is about to be deported on an expired Visa and Laura is her assistant trying to get her own manuscripts published. When Carmilla ropes Laura into a green card marriage by threatening to never get her published they take a whirlwind weekend trip to visit Laura’s family. Crazy shenanigans occur while they are forced together for a weekend, will it bring them closer together or make them reach their breaking points? No matter the outcome of this Carmilla will walk away unscratched, but will Laura go through with this? Will she marry her ridiculously attractive satan reincarnated boss so she can keep her shitty job under her but potentially go to jail if they get caught? Or will she bail, lose her job, and get her dreams crushed by never getting her manuscripts published with Carmilla hell bent on making her life worse then it already is if she doesn’t get what she wants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Worst Day Ever

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter in my Fake Wedding AU! It is inspired by the movie The Proposal!  
> The fic flips between the perspective of Laura and Carmilla  
> Italicized writing is internal thought of the character  
> ///////// means a time change

**Laura Hollis**

The first thing Laura notice’s when she opens her eyes is the amount of sunlight streaming in through her windows. That gives her her first wave of anxiety of the morning. That amount of sunlight definitely shouldn't be happening right now which means she's either dreaming or her power cut out again and she slept in. Groaning and rolling over to check if her suspicions are right, she checks her alarm clock and sees that it has been reset to flash 12:00. So her power did cut out and now she knows she’s in trouble.

_Maybe it's actually not that late and I haven't slept in. Maybe this actually is a dream and my shitty apartment didn't lose power again. Please please please don't let it be almost 9 o’clock_ she thinks to herself as she grabs her watch off the nightstand and sees it reads 830 am.

“Shit!!” All traces of sleep are gone as she flings her blanket and sheets off of her.  

Panic and adrenaline take over, and while trying to get out of bed in a haste she gets tangled up in her sheets and falls face first onto the floor, using her hands to break the fall. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her arms from the fall she pulls on the closest clean looking clothes and throws her hair up into a messy pony tail while applying minimal makeup to make her look like an actual living person and not the zombie she totally feels like right now. She’s out the door in 10 minutes, which she notes is a new personal best, and begins sprinting towards Starbucks. She may look like a hot mess, but she’ll be damned if she shows up to work without her horrible bosses coffee.

Making it to Starbucks, she sees that there's a long line. Great, could this morning get any worse?

“Hey, Laura!” A vaguely familiar voice is calling her name.

Turning her attention towards the source of the voice she notices the cute barista she usually attempts to, emphasis on _attempt_ , flirt with. And she’s calling her up to the counter. Ignoring the glares she receives from the people in the line, she quickly walks up to the counter.

“Two black coffee’s right? It's on the house.” She says with a warm smile

“You’re a literal life saver right now, thank you so much!” So maybe the horribly embarrassing flirting hasn't been going unnoticed and is actually working. She grabs the coffees and is back out onto the street making her way towards the office building.

Sprinting across the street and dodging traffic she makes it into the building and barely slides into a packed elevator giving Laura a moment to catch her breath for the first time since waking up. Living in such a crappy, run down New York apartment sucks the majority of the time but days like today she sure is grateful for it being so close to work. The short elevator ride allows her to wipe away the sweat that has started to accumulate on her forehead from her morning sprint. It also gives her the chance to check over her outfit in the elevator doors reflection. She’s impressed that she threw together such an impressive outfit with such little time and clean clothing available. A white shirt, tucked into a grey pencil skirt with a matching blazer. Although the outfit is a little crumpled, it's still presentable. Maybe this day won't be so bad after all.

Walking off the elevator and straight through the doors of Armatage Publishing Company with a lightened mood, she’s suddenly met with a mail cart to her side causing her to spill hot coffee all over herself.

“Are you kidding me?!” Laura huffs out in frustration, looking down at herself in disgust. Of course something can’t go right for her today. Whatever, she doesn't have time for this right now. Its almost 9 o’clock and she cant be late. Speed walking towards her desk, she spots Lafontaine is already at their desk. This is going to be a long shot, but she can’t let her boss see her in a coffee soaked shirt.

“Two VIP tickets to the science convention and panel tonight in exchange your shirt. You can take whoever you want” She blurts out as soon as she stops in front of their desk.

“What? Are you serious?” They ask with shock and reserved excitement in their eyes.

“Yes im serious! I really don't have time to talk so please your shirt, right now, or no science for you” Laura is looking around the office space nervously, praying she doesn’t catch sight of her coming into the office.

“Alright fine, calm down. Your face is all scrunched up and you look like you're going to give yourself a stroke” Lafontaine says as they stand up and start to lead Laura towards the washrooms where they can exchange their shirts.

“No time to go to the washrooms” Laura diverts them to the office behind them. They quickly make it into the office and Laura closes the door behind them. She turns towards Lafontaine and starts unbuttoning her shirt.

“Come on! Strip!” She says exasperatedly when she notices they haven't started taking their shirt off.

“Woah Hollis, at least buy me a drink first” They tease, but comply to Laura’s demand.   

Right in the middle of the shirt exchange a notification sound comes from Lafontaine’s phone, instantly making Laura freeze in her spot.

“Its her isn't it? She’s arrived?” Laura looks over to Lafontaine and the look on their face is all the confirmation she needs. She's never been so grateful for the office wide group chat that signals when the She-Devil walks into the office then she is right now. “Shit! Get out now! She cannot catch you in here! I’ll have the tickets on your desk by the end of the day!” She nervously tells Lafontaine while shoving them out the office door.

As soon as they’re gone Laura busies herself by trying to make the slightly-too-big shirt look stylish on her and places the coffee that survived the mail cart crash on the desk. Laura is looking around the office with the spare time she finds herself. How is it that Satan reincarnated ended up with such an awesome job, office, and view? Some people really do get it all. Just as she starts thinking of how terrible her day has been and that it possibly couldn't get worse, she gets interrupted by the owner of this office. Her boss and the devil herself, Carmilla Karnstein.

**Carmilla Karnstein**

Carmilla walks through the door of her office and the first thing she notices is the way her cute, tiny assistant is slightly twitching.

“Geez cupcake, eat too many cookies already? Youre twitchier than normal.” She slowly checks her our head to toe, enjoying how Laura squirms under her gaze. “And your shirt looks too big for you, did you get dressed in the dark or something? Have a quickie with someone in a closet and grab the wrong shirt? No, you look too wound up still, so definitely not a quickie” She winks and chuckles as she notices the red slowly starting to spread on Laura’s cheeks.

Laura mumbles something under her breath that she can't quite catch but decides not to push for an answer. The girl looks shaken up enough and she doesn't want to give her an aneurysm because that would impede the amount of work that needs to get done.

Carmilla slowly struts past Laura, once again checking her out, questioning how this woman can make a baggy button up shirt look so hot. Once she gets to her desk, she plops down on her chair and addresses Laura again.

“Okay sundance, what do we have lined up for today?”

“You have a conference call in 30 minutes.”

“Yes I know about that, what else?” You notice that the spaz has started to calm down. The normal routine of the day must be soothing to her.

“You have a staff meeting a-”

“Oh, did you call... God whats her name? The really tall blonde” She interrupts Laura.

“Betty? Yes I did call her and I told her if she doesn't get her manuscript in on time you won't give her a release date” She starts going through the stack of manuscripts that she knows won't get published while Laura continues to spew her schedule.

“Oh and your immigrations lawyer called, she said it's imperative that-”

“Cancel the call, push the meeting until tomorrow, keep the lawyer in the dark, and call up PR and get them to start a draft for a press release. Natalie will be going on Ellen.” Interrupting Laura once again. Carmilla was good at her job but other days shes was excellent at it. Like today. Nothing was going to stop her or get in her way today.

“Wow, nicely done.” She looked up and just catched a glimpse of an impressed look on Laura’s face before she turns away to start making a list of things that need to get done today.

Carmilla grabbed her coffee and wheels around in her chair to face her computer when she noticed something off about the cup. Oh, is that a phone number? And a name?

“Hey, Laura?”

“Yea?” She hears the confusion in her voice. Rarely does she use her real name, so the cupcake must be concerned.

“Who is Elizabeth and why does she want me to call her?” She slowly turns back around with a smirk on her face, holding up the coffee cup for Laura to see. For the second time in 10 minutes she’s caused her to turn red. Oh yes today is going to be a good day for Carmilla.

“Uh, that's because that was originally my coffee” Laura stammers out while not meeting her gaze.

“Didn’t take you for being a lady lover sweetheart” Carmilla takes a sip of the coffee, noticing that it's black coffee her smirk grows even bigger. “So is it a coincidence that you also drink black coffee? Or do you order the same thing as me in case you spill one? Because I take you for a hot chocolate person.”

“No of course not! I love black coffee!” Her voice has raised an octave and is overly enthusiastic, which she only does when she's lying. Before she can really get into teasing Laura she's interrupted by the phone ringing. Oh how she loves to tease this little cutie. Its just so easy to get to her, and now that she knows she's also into ladies…

“Ms. Karnstein’s office. Oh hey Elsie” Carmilla internally groans at that. She hates it when people use her last name formally. It makes her feel old, and not the 25 year old she is. But that's what you get when you become the most successful editor in New York City.

She notices Laura looking over at her questioningly, wondering what their next move is. She raises her hand and makes a small hand gesture that signals to her that they will be heading to Elsie’s office.

“No, we’re actually coming over there” She says in a confused voice After hanging up the phone she turns back to Carmilla with curiosity in her voice.

“Why are we going to see Elsie?” And she only replies by giving Laura a tight smile and clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. That's the signal they use when Carmilla is about to fire someone.

She watches Laura run back out into the main office space, no doubt shooting off an instant message warning everyone that she’s about to leave her office. _No time to think about petty office games Karnstein_ she thinks to herself. Laura and the rest of the office will never find out that the real reason she’s firing Elsie is because their “editing sessions” have started to go south lately. Elsie has gotten a little too clingy and too close for Carmilla’s liking. Nobody is allowed to be that close to Carmilla except her Carmilla herself. Of course she had to come up with a logical excuse to fire her, so she waited until she got Natalie on Ellen. Elsie was supposed to do this months ago, but got too distracted by Carmilla so she took her opportunity.

Walking out into the main office space Laura is by her side instantly. They start walking past the rows of cubicles.

“Hey, uh, have you read the manuscript I gave you?”

“I read a few pages, it wasn't that good.” She can see Laura’s face fall a bit.

“Can I say something?”

“No”

“I dont care.” _Oh so this one actually does have some fire to her_ “I have read thousands of manuscripts and this is the only one i've given you. There is an incredible novel in there! It's just like the ones you used to publish!” She was doing that cute thing where she flails her arms around when she gets passionate about something.

“Laura, not now” Using her real name gets her attention instantly. They both stop walking and face each other.

“Oh come on, why not! Ive been here 3 years, this is what I came here for! I dont want to be your bitc-” Carmilla raises her eyebrow at the last comment but luckily Laura cuts herself off before that gets any further, but Carmilla already knows what she was going to say.

She looks down at the ground and mutters something too quiet for Carmilla to hear. She gets thousands of manuscripts a day and hardly ever publishes any. What makes Laura think that she was going to publish hers? Just because she works for her? It doesn't work that way. Plus she can't have her assistant published. She can't afford to lose her.

Carmilla starts to walk past more cubicles again when she see that ginger, who’s way too into science to be working at a publishing company, wearing a coffee stained shirt that's too small for them. That smirk is back on her face when she turns to look at Laura, who is looking guilty and red again. _Third time making the cutie blush in 20 minutes? Personal record Karnstein._

“And by the way, I do think you order the same coffee as me in case you spill which obviously happened because you and Ginger over there obviously switched shirts. Pathetic, but nice save.”

Walking into Elsie’s office, Carmilla prepares for all the worst case scenarios that are probably bound to happen. All she can do is brace herself, and turn up her snark and sarcasm that she’s famous for. Noticing a new painting on the wall of her office, Carmilla walks over to it to inspect it and to buy herself time on how she is going to do this.

“Is this new? This certainly wasn't here the last time i was in here” she says in a husky voice while training her seduction eyes on Elsie. Better to pull her in with flirting and seduction so she doesnt suspect something is up. Laura looks uncomfortable in the corner of the room.

“It isn't new since it’s a painting of some castle in Austria from the 1600’s, but yes it is new to my office.” Elsie has obviously picked up on the seduction as she returns Carmilla’s smirk with one of her own.

“Well it's a beautiful piece.” She says while still staring down Elsie. Maybe she shouldn't fire her. She could just distance herself from Elsie a bit so her clinginess cools off. The girl really is a good time…

“If you tell you little shadow here to get lost we can both get acquainted with it”

That comment snaps Carmilla out of her lust and brings her back to the reason why she came over here in the first place. She still keeps the smirk on her face but looks over to where Laura is still awkwardly standing in the corner, though she is starting to get fidgety again. She must have felt her gaze on her and turns to look at her questionly, wondering if she really should leave the two women alone. Time to get this over with, hopefully fast.

“Hmm that would be nice wouldnt it?” Carmilla turns her attention back to Elsie, seduction eyes are gone and the smirk has a sadistic look to it now “No, the real reason i'm here is because were letting you go”

“What? You joking right? Elsie laughs, albeit nervously

“No im not joking. You were supposed to get Natalie on Ellen months ago and you failed. I got her on Ellen and now i'm firing you.”

“You can’t do this to me! Youre the reason why I didnt get Natalie on Ellen.” She looks at her with shock and betrayal.

“I don't know what youre talking about Elsie. You have until the end of the day to pack up and leave or i'm calling security.” And with that Carmilla turns on her heels, snaps at Laura to pull her out of her daze, and walks out of the office.

“Whats her twenty?” She asks Laura once they’re back amongst the cubicles. _Please don't do anything stupid Elsie. Please just make this easy on both of us_. Laura looks over her shoulder to check what she is doing in the office.

“She’s pacing, looking slightly crazed and... oh no here she comes”

“YOU BITCH” The office goes silent. _Great thanks a lot Elsie. You couldn't have just let this go smoothly_. She stops when Elsie yells at her, composes herself and turns around to face her.

“You can't fire me! You can't fire me over this! You say you're firing me over this stupid Ellen thing but really you're just trying to cover up the fact that we’ve been sleeping together! Well you know what? Fine! If this is your sick way of breaking things off with someone then you really are the monster everyone says you are.”

“Elsie stop” She says coldly.

“No! You know what? I feel bad for you! You use everyone around here as a piece in your little game, using whoever you can to get ahead. Thats going to blow up on you one day and you will have no one left around you! There will be no one to come visit your grave when you're in the cold hard ground!” Carmilla’s face has been growing colder by the second, and now it's time to shut this down before she does something stupid, like lash out emotionally.

“Elsie I did not fire you because of your accusations that we've been sleeping together. I am firing you because you're lazy, entitled, incompetent, and you spend more time talking about swag then you do about your work. Now stop and go gather your things or I really will call security on you.”  She turns back around and walks back down to her office not caring if Laura follows her right away or stays to inevitable gossip with that science nerd. All she cares about right now is trying to ignore and hide the tears that are stinging her eyes.

**Laura Hollis**

This truly is the worst day of her life. She’s sitting at her desk with her head in her arms, eyes closed, trying to get over this stupid caffeine headache that's plaguing her when Lafontaine strolls up and takes a seat on the corner of her desk.

“Wow, I knew she was a bitch but that was just cold.”

“Yea, well thats Carmilla Karnstein for you. They don't call her the Wicked Witch of Armitage for nothing.” She opens one of her eyes to squint up at Laf.

“Tough deal that your crush is such a horrible person L.” They smirk down at Laura, wiggling their eyebrows knowingly.

“Shut up!” She says as she sits bolt upright and slapping a hand over their mouth. “I know that she's a freaking horrible person and my body is a traitor. Ugh, why does she have to be so gorgeous yet so evil.” She uncovers Laf’s mouth when she thinks they won't spill anything else and slumps back into her chair.

“Because it wouldn't be fair if she was both insanely hot and an insanely good person. The universe has to balance that out.” They nudge her with her foot “Come on L, lets go cheer you up with some cookies in the break room.”

“Yea, okay that sounds good right now. I need something to help lighten up my mood today.”

Just as they get up to go make their way to the break room, a quiet voice can be heard calling out to Laura. Groaning, Laura turns to stop Lafontaine

“Go on ahead. Ill see what she needs and then ill meet up with you”

They divert paths at Carmilla’s office. Laura walked in and was met with something she could have never been prepared to see. Carmilla with red, puffy eyes, and she’s staring up at the ceiling. Has she been crying? Maybe she isn't as heartless as she seems.

“I need you to stay and work the weekend, we have to go through all of Elsie’s stuff” She says without looking over at her. But when Laura takes too long to respond she glances over at her.

“What? Is that going to be a problem for you cupcake? Got a hot date or something?”

“No, I haven't had a date in yea-” She cuts herself off, why the hell did she just start telling Carmilla that? “Anyways that's not the point. It's actually my Gammie’s 90th birthday and I was going to go home for the weekend.”

“Well I guess youre going to have to cancel, aren't you?” Nope, definitely still a cold hearted person.

“Is that all, Ms. Karnstein?” She knows that the formal name bugs her. It's a low blow, but Laura doesn't care right now. She had been looking forward to going home for weeks now and now she has to cancel. Is the universe testing her strength today? This day keeps getting worse and worse for her and it isn't even noon yet. Carmilla gives her a tight smile, and a shake of her head, obviously annoyed but letting things slide.

Laura walks out of the office and sees Lafontaine across the way eating cookies. They hold up the box and beckon Laura over when they see her, but Laura just shakes her head sadly and returns to her desk. Time to phone home and let her father and Gammie know she won't be coming home. Hopefully she’ll see them before another 3 years go by.

**Carmilla Karnstein**

No doubt the cupcake just saw her red puffy eyes and knew she had been crying. Showing vulnerability is not good for her, so she is forcing Laura to stay here this weekend and go through all of Elsie’s files. Of course it could be done any other day but this is what Carmilla does best, breaking down other people when she feels emotions. She did feel a little bad that Laura won't be able to go home for the weekend, but it was mostly from the face she made and not from making her stay away from her family. After collecting and locking away her feelings, she gets up and walks out of her office towards Laura.

“I know it’s Gammies birthday.. I know, im sorry! What am I supposed to do? Shes forcing me to sta-” The topic quickly changes as Laura notices Carmilla walking towards her. “We take all of our applications seriously and they will get processed as soon as possible” She hangs up the phone.

“Was that your family on the phone?”  

“Yes”

“Do they tell you to quit?”

“Every day” She says staring straight into her eyes. There's an angry glint to them that she’s never seen before. She’s taken back a moment, and she feels the need to try and make things right for some reason.  

“Hey, Lau-” She's cut off by the phone ringing.

“Ms. Karnstein’s office” Laura smirks up at her, knowing she hates that usage of her name. The phone call is quick because before she can think of a snarky remark Laura has hung up the phone.  “J.P. wants to see you upstairs right away”

She narrows her eyes, wondering why she possibly has to go see the big boss. She hasn’t done anything wrong, she’s still putting out manuscripts. Probably about another pay raise since she’s been doing so well this month.

“Fine. If i'm not back in 10 minutes, come get me. We have a lot to do.”

///////////////////////////////////

She walks off of the elevator on the top floor of the building. Walking past the secretary she heads straight for the door of J.P.’s office. Walking through the door she see’s J.P. sitting at his desk.

“Armitage” She nods her head at him out of respect. She walks over to the chairs placed in front of his desk. She choses to lean on one of the chairs instead of taking a seat. There’s no need to sit down when she knows this meeting will be short.

“Carmilla, congratulations on the Ellen deal.”

“Thank you. This isn't about my second pay raise this month is it?” She smirks at JP. He lets out a small chuckle but quickly turns serious.

“Carmilla, do you remember when we agreed you wouldn't be going to the Silas book fair because your Visa application was being processed?”

“Yes I do.”

“And you went to Silas anyways.”

“Yes I did. We were going to lose Natalie to another publishing company so I didn't really have another choice did I?” She lets out a breathy laugh.

“Well the United States government doesn't care who publishes Natalie” She notices that J.P. has some sort of document in his hands. Carmilla is starting to get a little nervous, this isn’t going the way she was expecting.

“Carmilla, I just spoke with your immigrations lawyer and-” She cuts him off before he can get any further.

“Great! So everything is squared away?”

“No Carmilla. Your Visa application has been denied and you're being deported.” Shock hits her, she freezes up. Her eyes are wide and her mouth is hanging open. Her expressions mirrors a deer caught in headlights.

“Deported?” She shoves all of her feeling aside, and forces herself to start forming thoughts and words. “Come on! I'm from Canada for Christ sake! It's not like i'm even really an immigrant!” She's starting to lose control over her emotions. How can this be happening to her, nothing ever goes wrong for Carmilla. “There’s gotta be something we can do to fix this right?”

“We can re-apply for your Visa but unfortunately you have to leave the country for at least one year.” It feels like someone just kicked her in the stomach. She’s bending over a little, trying to catch her breathe. No this cannot be happening right now, she has to be dreaming.

“Okay, well this isn’t ideal obviously. But I mean I can still work from Toronto! Ill just do video calls and emai-” She’s cut off by J.P.. Hes giving her a sympathetic look.

“Unfortunately Carmilla, if your deported you can't work for an American company.” The room is starting to spin. “Until things are resolved I am going to turn things over to Elsie.” Carmilla lets out a bark of a laugh. This is not happening.

“Elsie? You mean the girl I just fired?”

“We needed an editor in chief and she’s the only person in the entire building with the right qualifications.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Her voice is raised and she throws her arms out in frustration.

“Carmilla we are desperate to have you here. If there was any way to make this work we’d be doing it.”

There's a knock at the door, and her thought process is interrupted by Laura opening the door. Oh not now! She’s trying to fight for her job, she can’t be pulled out of here yet!

“Excuse me, i'm sorry to interrupt but Jane is on the line. She’s on hold and she would like to speak with you right away. I told her you were otherwise engaged…” She stopped listening to whatever else Laura is saying. Something clicked in her head.

She looks over at Laura with a knowing look, causing her to return with a confused look.

“Come here” She mouths at Laura. All that gets is a look that is far too similar to a confused puppy.  

“Come here.” She says more loudly and more sternly this time. This time Laura hears and slowly starts to make her way over to Carmilla.

“J.P., I understand the predicament we are in. But, uh, there is something I would like to tell you.” She slowly walks backwards to meet a still confused Laura. Poor girl, her world is about to shatter.

Carmilla reaches the spot in the room where Laura is standing. Carmilla moves to stand right next to Laura, their hips touching. This causes Laura to flinch slightly and move away to put distance between them. Carmilla slides over again and makes sure she’s as close to Laura as possible. This time Laura doesn't move, she must see that Carmilla is playing another one of her games and doesn't want to mess up and get in trouble. Next she snakes her arm around Laura’s waist, making sure it's too low to be considered friendly. This makes her freeze up instantly but she doesn't pull away. She looks over at the smaller girl and notices how red her face is. A smirk is forming on Carmilla’s face, and she moves to tuck some of Laura’s hair behind her ear before she turn back to face J.P..

“We’re getting married.”

****  



	2. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura deals with the aftermath of learning she is going to have to marry Carmilla. They take a trip to the immigration office and some complications arise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in about 2 months and I'm so sorry about that! First I lacked motivation, and then school started and that took over even though i found my motivation again. This chapter was written weird, i wrote it in little bits, often weeks apart. I hope people still enjoy it :) 
> 
> Italicized means internal thoughts  
> //////// means a change in time

**Carmilla Karnstein**

“Who’s getting married?” Laura manages to spit out after an awkward pause in the room.

The flush that was on her face moments before is replaced with a pale, sickly colour. Carmilla wraps her other arm around the front of Laura, interlocking her fingers on her hip. She’s sure it makes it look more coupley, but really she’s doing it because Laura was starting to sway and she doesn't need her passing out. She’s using both her arms to keep her steady and hopefully they can make it out of here before she blows it for both of them.

“We’re getting married sweetie. Don't you remember?” She internally groans at how sincere the nickname sounded coming from her. She really needs to get Laura out of whatever weird daze she’s currently in. Carmilla has an idea that will probably jump start Laura’s heart and get her back to this world. She leans in close to her and places a kiss on her cheek, close to her hairline.

“Say something good before we’re both fired.” She whispers into her ear just before she pulls back.

Well it seems to have worked because the flush is back on Laura’s skin. Whether it was from the kiss, or her breathe on Laura’s skin, or her voice that’s the cause of the flush she doesn't know. Though it is making her smug again that she can cause such a rise out of the smaller woman.

“Right we’re getting married! Sorry, I skipped my morning coffee today so my head is a little sluggish” Laura says with a little more confidence.

She feels a shaky arm wrap around her back making her freeze up a bit from the sudden contact. She forces herself to relax a bit, they’re only trying to sell this, there’s no need to panic from such an intimate touch.

J.P. has been staring at them the whole time with an unreadable expression on his face.

Oh god he probably sees right through us. It was worth a shot, but the jokes up.

Carmilla starts to pull away from Laura when she gets interrupted.

“Isn't she you’re secretary?” J.P. says while pointing between the two of them.

“Assistant”

“Executive Assistant” Laura and Carmilla blurt out at the same time.

They look at each other and let out a nervous laugh. Carmilla pulls her in tight again, this time Carmilla is the one holding onto her to keep herself from falling over. They can’t get busted now.

“We’ll it wouldn’t be the first time someone fell for their secretary, am i right?” She smirks knowingly at J.P.

She has dirt on everyone in this building and she wouldn't be opposed to letting some of it spill. J.P. doesn't respond so Carmilla takes that cue that he’ll be keeping quiet on this. Excellent.

“The truth is, Laura and I are just two people that weren't meant to fall in love. But we did.” She’s regaining her confidence. This is going to work for her. It has to work.

“No, no we weren’t.” Laura says barely louder than a whisper. Her grip on Carmilla’s waist has tightened causing her to glance over at Laura. She’s receded back into whatever place she was before. Great, she’s flying solo again.

“All the late nights at the office, the weekend book fair getaways, the midnight tampon runs…” She looks over at Laura, still nothing. “Something happened. We tried to fight it but you just can't fight a love like ours.”

Smirking she leans in again to kiss Laura’s cheek, knowing it'll snap her out of her daze. She pulls back expecting to see the little cutie flushing again but she looks like she’s in an entirely different world. Okay, that's a little blow to her ego. She can always make the ladies blush, it's one of her many talents. Tearing her gaze away from Laura she looks back over to J.P. who, thankfully, is smiling.

“So are we good with this?” She wants to wrap this up as soon as possible.

“It's great Carmilla. Just make it legal, okay?” He laughs while pointing to his ring finger.

“Oh! Right, of course. Well then that means we need to get ourselves over to the immigration office.”

In her last ditch effort to pull Laura back into this world she disconnects one of her arms that's wrapped around Laura’s waist and moves it up to her shoulder. Laura robotically moves to lace their fingers together. Even though she's completely checked out at least she's keeping up with the scheme. Carmilla is sure she’s going to break out in hives any moment from the amount of gross coupley shit she's pulling right now. But she can't afford to be deported.

“Thank you very much, we’ll go get that done right away.” Carmilla turns them around and quickly guides them towards the door.

Once they're out in the waiting area she notices that Laura is still not with her completely. This is her opportunity to make sure that Laura can’t back out. She turns towards the secretary that's unashamedly staring at them. She’s crushed this poor girl enough today, why not crush her a little more?

“We’re getting married!” She smirks at the secretary. She’s pretty sure her eyeballs almost fell out of her head. Carmilla knows that this is too juicy not to share on that damned group chat within the building. By the time they make it back down to their floor the whole building will know, and if the whole building knows it'll make Laura feel obligated to go through with this. She knows that if everyone knows something that Laura is involved in she won't back down. It's one of her weaknesses and Carmilla is pulling out all the stops to make sure she doesn't leave her job.

“Hey Laura, come on.” The use of her real name makes some light come back to her eyes.

Geez, why is she acting this way? It's not like we’re getting married for real.

Without a warning Laura is ripping herself out of Carmilla’s embrace and running out of the room and down the hall.

“I'm sorry, i just uh… I need to go” She calls over her shoulder, leaving Carmilla alone and wondering what the hell just happened.

_Well that was weird. Laura is usually twitchy and weird but never that weird_ she thinks to herself as she makes her way back to the elevator. Once inside the elevator she sees her reflection in the doors. Carmilla smirks at her double, gloating in the fact that she found a loophole in the stupid Visa process. Nothing gets in the way of her work. Not even the law.

**  
** **Laura Hollis**

 

_Marriage, marriage, marriage._

She's running through the halls, no particular destination in mind. The thought is pounded further into her head with every slap of her foot against the floor. Voices and thoughts are coming to her, she just needs to escape the voices in her head.

_“We’re getting married”_

_“Laura! Please don't do this to me! You can't leave now!”_

It was like being lit on fire from rage and then doused in ice water from sadness. Fire from Carmilla, ice from Danny. Over and over and over again. She can't escape it. The memories keep replaying in her head. Those voices, so clear in her ear. She can't breathe, the world is starting to spin, and her fingers are starting to tingle. The last thing she sees is her own tear stained face in a mirror before she blacks out.

/////////////////////////////

She comes to a little while later. There's a sharp pain coming from her elbow and her head feels like it's going to split in half from the headache she has. She doesn't know where she is or how she got here. Laura slowly starts to sit up and get her bearings back. She’s looking around slowly, careful not to move her head too fast, and notices she's in a bathroom.

_Okay why am I lying on the floor in a bathroom i've never been in before?_

Laura gets up off of the floor and clings onto the counter in front of her because her head is starting to spin again. Once she feels certain she isn't going to hurl she finally looks up into the mirror. Looking at her own reflection sets off an explosion of memories in her head. Everything comes rushing back to her. Carmilla and her stupid scheme. Danny and her heartbreak. Running, panic attack, falling on the floor, hitting her elbow and head just before passing out.

“Fuck! No no no no, this cannot be happening! You’re dreaming. Yes this is all just a very bad dream. Today actually isn't happening. Right?” Laura says aloud to her reflection.

She starts pinching herself, but she feels it. Then she runs the water as cold as she can in the sink, but she still feels that too.

“Great so i'm obviously not dreaming and today is actually the worst day of my entire life.” She spits out through gritted teeth.

Her face is bunched up and she's gripping the counter hard enough to turn her knuckles white. The scheme she just got dragged into with Carmilla is replaying in her mind with more detail and she’s getting worked up again. She’s pissed at Carmilla for doing this to her, she's pissed that she didn't have time to at least prepare for her latest game, but mostly she's pissed at herself. Laura thought she was over what happened in her past. Running away should have left those thoughts and feelings behind. Apparently not.

“It's been 5 years! 5 long years! Why can’t i leave this behind!” She slams her hand against the counter and turns away, no longer able to look at her own reflection.

Now she’s remembering the other things Carmilla did. The closeness, the touching, the kisses… She can still feel everywhere her hands and lips had been. Laura would be lying to herself is she said she didn’t enjoy it a little bit. Which is also adding to her anger. Why did her body have to betray her like this?

“FUCK YOU CARMILLA” She screams out.

She lashes out and kicks a trash can, no longer able to keep the feelings bottled up inside her. Her vision is clouded red and it feels like she’s been lit on fire again. All she can see is Carmilla’s smug face as she called her into the room. Had this been her plan all along? See how far she can push Laura before she truly breaks? Because if that’s what she was planning to do it seems to be working today. She’s yelling every foul word she can think of at the top of her lungs but she doesn't care who hears her. Let her be dragged out of the building by security. At least she would be away from Carmilla. She’s kicks the trash can over and starts kicking and punching the stall doors. Her knuckles and toes are stinging from pain so she moves over to one of the walls. She has her forehead resting against the cool wall and is occasionally hitting her head against it when the last of her rage finally turns to tears.

Danny’s face starts to come to the front of her mind. Danny and her blue eyes filled with tears. Danny reaching out to Laura as she pulls away. The sadness washes over her like ice. She slides down onto the floor as the sobs start to rip through her body. She pulls her knees in as tight as she can and wraps her arms around her shins. Her forehead is resting on her knees. She’s rocking back and forth when Lafontaine comes barging into the bathroom.

“There you are!” They say with a sense of relief. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”  

“Well here I am” Laura croaks out. She looks up at Lafontaine and see’s the instant change in their facial expression when they see Laura’s face and hands.  

“Holy shit Laura, what happened!” They’re crossing the space between them and crouching down on the floor in front of her.

They gently take one of her hands and looks over her red knuckles. Next they wipe away the tears still running freely down Laura’s face. They move to sit next to Laura and wrap an arm around her. She starts sobbing again but leans into Lafontaine’s side for support.

“I don't even know where to start. This is the worst day of my life.”

“I highly doubt that. We should go get your hands looked at when you’re up when you’re ready. I know someone who keeps a stash of first-aid supplies.” They say while still inspecting Laura’s hands.

“How did you even find me Laf? I don't even know where I am right now.”

“Well… When Carmilla came back to the floor alone and practically glowing from how smug she was I kind of knew something was up.” Laura stiffened up. “So I started wondering around different floors of the building. Once i got to this floor I heard yells and other loud noises so I kind of just followed it until I got here.”

“Oh god, great.” She slams her head back against the wall.

“Hey! Stop doing that! You’ll give yourself a concussion or something.”

“I think I already did that when i passed out on the floor earlier.”

“You passed out and hit your head? You were in here screaming, and you have bloody knuckles. What the actual hell happened Laura?” Laf looks over at her with concern. Laura won't meet their eyes.

“I'm getting married” she says bitterly.

 

**Carmilla Karnstein**

**  
**Carmilla is working on her computer when she hears her come into her office. She can hear her heavy breathing and her footsteps as she paces back and forth. Of course Carmilla takes her sweet time finishing up what she was doing before turning around. **  
**

“About time you came down from that bathroom. Did you fall in cupcake?”

“Shut up Carmilla.” Laura stops pacing and looks Carmilla in the eyes. It's like there's actually fire behind the other girl’s eyes. Carmilla’s trademark smirk falls for a second.

“Woah, calm down spaz. What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

“Calm down! What’s got my panties in a bunch!” She huffs out a breathe and takes a moment to collect herself. “Were you not in that office at all Carmilla! What have you done?” She has her hands curled into fists at her sides.

“Of course I was up there you idiot. I did nothing wrong, so why are you getting so worked up over this? Nothing bad happened” She leans back in her chair and folds her arms over her chest.

“Nothing bad happened? Oh i'm sorry! DId I just dream up the last hour of my life? Or should i say nightmare since that’s exactly what you are!” Her voice had been getting louder as she spoke. She practically shouted the last few words.

“Would you stop yelling? Or at least close the door so the entire building doesn't hear what we’re talking about” Carmilla is giving the few people obviously eavesdropping a death glare.

“No! I'm sick of you telling me what to do, and pulling stuff on me like you did earlier!”

“Are you going to calm down and let me talk? Or are you going to keep yelling at me?”

“You know what? No. I'm going to tell you all the horrible things you’ve done to ... “ Carmilla starts to zone out. She doesn't want to hear this lecture.

She watches as Laura starts pacing back and forth again. Her face keeps bunching up in that adorable way when she gets angry. Shes getting very animated in the way she’s talking because her arms and hands are being thrown around a lot. Carmilla is soaking in every detail of her cute little assistant. At least she gets a nice view to distract her from whatever Laura is going on and on about. Carmilla is slowly eyeing her way up Laura’s body, starting at her feet and not stopping until she reaches her face. That's when she finally notices the tear tracks left behind in her make up. Concern floods Carmilla and before she can crush that feeling she’s interrupting Laura.  

“Have you been crying?”

“What? Why do you say that?” Laura wipes at her face, trying to wipe away nothing there.

“I can see the tear tracks in your make up. Why have you been crying?”

“That none of your damn business Carmilla. I could ask you the same thing about earlier.” Carmilla froze.

_Damn so she did notice that. You try and be sympathetic for once and this is what you get. Fine._

“Are you done with your little rant? Or were you trying to recreate a toddler having a temper tantrum?” Laura’s jaw drops.

“What… No… I'm not a todd-”

“I've had enough of this. Now it's your turn to shut up and listen. Close the door.” Carmilla interrupts her. Laura, still shocked from Carmilla’s harshness, does what shes told.

“Good. Now you’re going to be a good girl and sit here and listen to what i'm going to say. Got it?”

“Yes, Ms. Karnstein.” Laura smirks over at Carmilla before taking a seat in front of her desk. Carmilla clenches her fist at the use of her last name.

“We’re getting married”

“The hell we are!” Laura clenches up her fists and starts to get up from her seat.

“I thought i told you to shut up and listen?” Carmilla gets up from her chair and leans on her desk. She raises her eyebrow at Laura and silently dares her to try and go on.

“Fine” She says during a forced exhale of breathe.

Laura slumps back into her chair and crosses her arms over her chest protectively. At least she has the decency to look somewhat embarrassed at her out break.

“As I was saying, we’re getting married.” Carmilla pauses as Laura squirmed in her seat, waiting to see if she’ll act out again. “My Visa application has been denied and I can't afford to be deported.”

“So naturally I get to be your green card wife, right?” Carmilla decides to let this comment slide. She doesn't want to fight back with Laura right now.

“Yes. We’re going to get married, and then have a quick divorce. It'll be over in no time.”

“And if I refuse? Cause you know I just don't feel like getting married today. Or tomorrow. Or ever if it's to you.”

“That’s fine. Go ahead and refuse. When I leave Elsie will become the editor in chief, and the second i'm gone she’ll fire your ass. Which means you’ll be jobless, probably end up homeless and your hopes of ever getting your own work published will be crushed.” Carmilla sits back down in her chair. A satisfied looks starts to form on her face.

“What… No that can't be true!” Laura manages to spit out. Her eyes are wide and her mouth is still hanging slightly open.

_She looks just like a fish…_

“Oh but it is, sweetheart. Also if I get deported and it's because of you I will call up every publishing company in this city and make sure that you never get published. I’ll also personally see to it that you never get a job this good ever again. The only work you’ll be able to find will have you wishing you married me just so you could keep this job.”

She leans back into her chair, watching Laura’s facial expressions change as the news sinks in. First it's shock, then panic, and now it's just pure anger. She keeps clenching and unclenching her fists, and she’s looking everywhere in the room but Carmilla.

Jeez, who knew so much rage could be packed into such a small person.

“You know Carmilla, I have been working for you for 3 years. I have seen you do some questionable stuff. I've seen you pull some petty moves, but this is low. This is the lowest thing I have ever seen you do.” She gets up and walks to the edge of Carmilla’s desk “I will go through with this, no matter how very illegal it is, only because I need this stupid job. Ill phone the immigration office and tell you what time we need to be there at.” Laura turns on her heel and quickly walks to the door. Before opening it she turns back to look at Carmilla, tears are forming in her eyes.

“Some of us actually have life’s Carmilla. We’re not part of some sick game. I don't know what the hell happened to you before coming here, but it must have been messed up if you find enjoyment out of ruining people's lives.”

Laura opens the door and exits the room leaving Carmilla feeling like she just got slapped in the face.

 

**Laura Hollis**

Laura is making a beeline for the staff room. She needs to drown her feelings in sugar, so naturally she’s going to eat her weight in cookies. As she makes her way between rows of cubicles she can't help but hear a hushed whisper fall over the floor. She slows her walk down and glances around her. People duck down behind their cubicle when she looks in their direction. Laura’s skin is crawling, she can't help but feel like everyone is somehow talking about her.

_Okay this is beyond weird. Why is everyone staring at me? Can they all see I've been crying? Do I have something on me?_

She glances down at her shirt and finds nothing on it. She runs her hands over her hair in her messy pony tail.

_Everything feels and looks okay… Whatever just ignore them._

Laura makes it to the staff room and immediately starts shoving cookies into her mouth. She doesn't care how gross she looks right now, she’s had the worst day ever and deserves these cookies! Although the cookies aren't helping the feeling of being trapped in a zoo cage. Everyone is still staring at her, and now they're pointing and laughing too. She’s managed to inhale half a pack of cookies when Lafontaine walks into the room.

“Hey Laf! Is there something wrong with me? Like do I smell or have something on me or something else? Because i keep getting weird looks and stares from everyone on the floor.”  

“Yea, about that…” Laf is looking sheepishly around the room. Unable to meet Laura’s eyes. A cold feeling washes over Laura.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Well you see the reason why everyone is giving you weird looks is because they all know that you and Carmilla are getting married” They rush out in one breathe.

“Great! The whole floor knows??” Laura groans and throws her head back to look up at the ceiling.

“Well…”

“No! God no, please don't tell me-”

“The whole building knows” Laf goes to duck behind the door.

“Son of a-” Laura throws the pack of cookies across the room. “You know what, I can't do this. I can't stay here. Everyone knows what stupid antic i’ve been pulled into and I just can't deal with this.”

Laura walks out of the staff room and heads to her desk. Lafontaine is following close behind.

_Gotta get out. I can't stay here and deal with everyone. The whispering. The pointing. I can't._

“I, uh, I need you to talk to Carmilla for me. I need you to tell her that i'm leaving for the day. Tell her i don't care what kind of trouble i get in later, but i'll be at the immigration office at 330 pm.” She grabs her things off of her desk and turns to face Lafontaine. “Think you can do that for me?”

“Yea sure Laura. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine. I just.. I need some air.” And a drink or two. Or 10.

Laura ignores the whispers, the pointing, the staring, and the whistling catcalls while she walks out of the building. She needs to get out into the streets. The cold air hits her face as she walks out of the building. She turns right and starts walking, no destination in mind. She just needs to get away. She just needs to disappear and blend in with other people. Here her problems start to melt away and she becomes one with the crowd.

 

**Carmilla Karnstein**

“Is anybody in this city ever going to write something worth publishing?” Carmilla says out loud to herself as she throws aside the 5th rejected manuscript of the day. She’s going to go crazy if she has to read another one today. Luckily she gets an interruption in the form of someone knocking on her door.

“Laura you never knock, why have you suddenly decided to become chivalrous?” Carmilla turns around in her chair, expecting to see Laura.

“Uh, hi. Not Laura.”

“Obviously not, Ginger science nerd.” She starts to sort through the pile of notes and other manuscripts on the desk, not interested in whatever the person in front of her has to say.

“My name is Lafontaine, use it sometime.”

“Whatever. Where’s Laura? I have a lot of things I need her to do.”

“Yea about that… Laura has left work today.” They say while looking around awkwardly and scratching the back of their head.

“What.” Carmilla looks up from her work.

“She left. But before she left she asked me to come talk to you. She said that she doesn't care how much trouble you give her for leaving and that she’ll be at the immigration office at 330 pm.” Carmilla brings her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, something she does when things go awry.

“Did she say why she left?”

“No, but i'm pretty sure it's about you two getting married. The entire building knows and it's turned her into a nervous wreck.” Lafontaine crosses their arms over their chest.

“I don't see why this is affecting her so much. It's not like she's going to have to be married to me for the rest of her life.” Carmilla turns to look out one of the windows in her office.

“Ms. Karnstein-”

“It’s Carmilla.”

“Right, Carmilla. I don't think you know how much this is actually bothering Laura. Earlier today I found her curled up on the bathroom floor sobbing because what you’ve just roped her into is bringing up horrible memories for her.”

“I'm sure someone that pure couldn't have gone through too much bad things in her life.” Carmilla snorts, not believing Lafontaine.

“Laura is tough. I don't know exactly what she’s gone through in her life but you shouldn't assume just because she’s sweet and caring that she hasn't had it rough.”

“Whatever. Now if you could leave, I have even more work to do now that my assistant has up and left me.”

“Wow, okay fine.” They start walking back to the door. “Laura is a sweet girl. She's actually passionate about what she’s doing here, and you're crushing her Carmilla. People aren’t toys, you can't play with them and then discard them when you're done with them.”

Carmilla doesn't see them leave the office. Those words are too similar…. Cold rushes over her. She’s clutching onto her desk, and her breathing has become laboured. She’s fighting to remain grounded and to stay in the present. She’s worked too hard to slip back to those memories now. A cold sweat breaks out on her neck and she can't hold on any longer. She’s falling now. Falling back in time. All the way back to her sophomore year of high school.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Carmilla is at her locker. She’s changing her books between classes when someone comes up beside her.

“People are not toys and you can't play with them or their feelings.”

She closes her locker and turns to look over at her girlfriend. The blonde looks furious, and Carmilla has no idea why.

“Ell what the hell are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about what your mother told me.”

“I still don't know what you’re talking about?”

Carmilla is standing there with a confused look on her face. Her cluelessness only seems to be adding fire to Ell.

“You really don't know? Is this part of the game too? Well the joke's up! I know everything that we have going on has been a lie.”  Carmilla’s jaw drops open.

“It is not a lie! What do you- How can you sa-” She can’t get sentences out.

“Oh please stop acting so innocent! Like you don't know what's going on!”

“But I really don't know what's going on!” Anger has started to seep into Carmilla.

“Your mother told me that you’ve been using me. That you're only dating me because i'm the editor in chief of the school paper and that if you got in my good books i’d hand the position over to you. All of this for a school newspaper Carmilla? And then to maybe put it on your college application? Thats sick.” She spits out the last few words. Disgust is written all over her features.

“Ell, no please let me explain. That isn't what is happening at all!” Panic is starting to overcome Carmilla.

How could her mother do this to her? She knows how much she loves Ell! She loves her more then her passion for novels and one day to hopefully run a publishing company. She tries to reach out for Ell’s hand and try and let her soothe her, but Ell jerks back as if she’s been burned. Hurt fills Carmilla.

“No. Don't. You are a monster Carmilla Karnstein and we are over. I never want to see your face ever again” Carmilla gets a faceful of blonde hair as Ell turns to run off down the hall.

That day was the worst day of Carmilla’s life. It was the day she decided to never love again, feeling things hurt too much. It was also the day she started to believe she was a monster. She spent years trying to ignore her mother's words that told her to manipulate people and she would have the world at her fingertips. If people thought she was a monster, then a monster they shall receive.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Carmilla jerks awake. She must have fallen asleep after the flashback. There is a bitter taste in her mouth from reliving that unpleasant memory. 10 years and she still hasn't been able to escape Ell. She curses at herself silently for letting herself go weak and get sucked into a memory. She sits up and stretches her arms high above her head. She glances over at her clock and notices it reads 3 pm.

Standing up from her desk she collects her bag, and pulls out a little mirror. She touches up the tear tracks left behind in her foundation, reapplies some mascara, and applies bright red lipstick. If she looks good on the outside then nobody will bother to question if she’s okay on the inside.

“Alright Carmilla, time to go get married.” She says to her reflection. She gives herself a devilish grin before snapping the small compact mirror closed and strutting out of her office.

** Laura Hollis **

She’s standing outside the immigration office. Her entire body is screaming for her to just run away, it would be easier to just move back home and find work there then get into this mess with Carmilla. Even though the situation she’s facing right now is very serious, Laura feels surprisingly calm. But that probably has to do with the 2 or 3 drinks she chugged down. She had wandered into a bar that had been open during the day after running away from the office. She asked the bartender to make her whatever they wanted, and turns out it had been something strong. Sure her world was spinning slightly but at least it was from the nice effects of alcohol and not from a panic attack from Carmilla. Speaking of Carmilla, she finally decided to grace Laura’s presence.

“Finally! I thought you were going to be late.”

“Calm down cutie, i'm here now aren't I?”

“Do you have any idea how hard it was to get this paperwork done so last minute?” She blew out a puff of air in frustration. That was probably a bad idea since Carmilla is now giving her a death glare.

“Have you been drinking?” Carmilla’s full attention is now on Laura. Her gaze is so intense it feels like it's going to burn holes into her everywhere it lands.

“What? No” She does that guilty shifty eye thing where she'll look everywhere but at the person who caught her lie.

“Laura”

“Okay fine, I might have had a couple drinks. But in my defense it's been a really bad day. And it's all your fault.” She mumbles the last sentence under her breathe.

“Here, chew this and try to act sober. You don't need to go to jail for fraud and public intoxication.”

“Gee, thanks. You are so caring” She says sarcastically, but reaches over and takes the piece of gum Carmilla is holding out to her.

“Let's go get this over with.”

The inside of the building is packed. There are people everywhere. Sitting, standing, everywhere. There was absolutely no breathing room and the line was super long. But of course Carmilla didn't care about that. Laura groaned internally as Carmilla strutted past every single person in line and walked right up to the counter.

“Carmilla! That's the line, we can't just butt in front of everyone!” She hisses at Carmilla.

“Sure we can. Now tell me what we need to do.”

Laura takes a minute to collect herself. She is clearly not drunk enough to not get fired up from Carmilla. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a file with some papers in it.

“Give then this and tell them we’re filing a fiancee Visa application”

Carmilla snatches the file out of her hand and saunters up to the counter when there is a break in the line.

“Yes hi! We would like to file a fiancee Visa application.” Carmilla throws the papers up on the desk. She looks down at her phone while the person flips through the file.

“Miss Karnstein?”

“Yes?” Carmilla glances up from her phone for a second.

“Come with me”

The worker is motioning for both of them to follow. He leads them off to a section with a bunch of smaller offices, and places them inside one of them.

“Please sit. Miss Belmonde will be here shortly.”

Laura sits on one of the chairs. She’s looking around the room, taking in the strange decorations. There seems to be artifacts from all sorts of time periods around the room. Laura assumes that Miss Belmonde is a traveller to have all of these in her possession. She glances over to her left and notices that Carmilla is leaning against the door, too absorbed in her phone.

“Carmilla.”

“Hmm?”

“Carmilla!” She says with a bit of a bite to her voice.

“What.” Carmilla looks up to glare at Laura.

“Would you get off that thing and come sit down like the man told us to do.”

“Just one second. I'm trying to work out these details for Natalie on Ellen.” Her voice trails off at the end as she starts tapping away on her phone again.

“Carmilla! This situation is more important right now! We shouldn't have been brought to another room! They should have just filed the application. Something is wrong!” Carmilla clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

“Relax cupcake. The alcohol is probably making you paranoid.”

Just before Laura could snap at her the door opened, hitting Carmilla. Laura quietly snickered at that as Carmilla pulled herself back together from the shock of being hit. The women that entered was beautiful. She was tall, elegant, and had an air of power to her. She scared Laura.

“I'm Matska Belmonde.” She turned and focused her gaze on Laura, which made her squirm. “You must be Laura, and you must be Carmilla.” She shifted her gaze to Carmilla, still standing by the door.

“Well i'm sorry about the wait. It's been a crazy day today.” She glides on over to her desk.

“Ha, believe me. I get it.” Laura barks out. She can practically feel the daggers that Carmilla’s eyes are shooting into her back right now.

“Well, we appreciate you seeing us on such short notice.” Carmilla puts on a dazzling smile she only reserves for winning over people.

Mattie sighs and starts flipping through the file, completely ignoring Carmilla.

“So I only have one question for you two.” She says while still looking down at the file, “Are you both committing fraud to avoid her deportation so she can keep her position as editor in chief at Armitage Editing Company?” Mattie is smiling right at  Laura, except the smile held no warmth. It's all ice, and there seems to be a sick pleasure in her eyes.

Laura’s mouth goes dry. This is the one thing that she didn't need to happen, and of course it happened. Her mind is trying to spin out an answer but all she’s getting are blanks. She stares at Matska with a look of shock.

“Uhhhh…” Hearing Carmilla’s voice seems to have made Laura’s mind work again. Whether it's from hearing something familiar or the fire that seems to take place in her veins when she hears her voice, she doesn't know.

“That’s ridiculous” She finally manages to say something outloud

Mattie leans back in her chair, while she continues to casually flip through the file that is in front of her.

“We had a phone tip this afternoon from an Elsie-”

“Elsie? Oh no. I am so sorry. She is nothing but a disgruntled old employee and i apologize. But we know you are incredibly busy here, with the amount of people out there, so if you could just give us the next step we will be out of your hair and on our way.”

“Miss Karnstein. Please, have a seat.” She motions to the chair next to Laura. She shines a smile so bright at the two of them it could probably light up all of New York CIty. “Let me explain to you the process about to unfold. Step 1 will be a scheduled interview. I will put you each in a room and I will ask you every little question that a real couple should know about one another.”

Laura is following along to what Matska is saying. She’s listening attentively because her free life is on the line if they screw this up. This step doesn't seem to bad to her, it's easy enough to learn things about each other. Of course Carmilla doesn't care what's going on because she’s not so subtly glancing down at her phone and tapping at it slowly.  

“Step 2, I dig deeper. I look at your phone records, talk to your neighbours, interview your co-workers. If your answers don't match up at every point, you.” Her smile is gone and she’s staring at Carmilla ”WIll be deported indefinitely. And you young lady will have committed a felony, punishable by a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and a stay in federal prison.” Matska delivers the last line with a smile on her face again.

At this time Laura looks out the window in the office to the reception area. She sees someone being hauled off unwillingly by two cops. The gravity of the situation has started to set in for her.

_Prison. For 5 years. I've seen Orange Is The New Black! I wouldn't be able to survive jail! And that fine! I can't even pay off my student loans, how would I be able to pay off that!_

Laura is frozen in her spot. Her eyes are starting to bug out from her head. She’s starting to rock back and forth a bit in her chair and try and keep her breathing normal so she doesn't pass out again.

“So Laura. Do you wanna tell me anything?”

Laura shakes her head no.

“No?”

Laura slowly shifts from shaking her head to nodding her head. Carmilla looks over and gives her an annoyed look.

“Yes?”

“The truth is” She pauses to clear her voice, and try and bring it down an octave or two so it isn't a total give away that she's lying. “Ms. Belmonde, the truth is… Carmilla and I are just two people that weren't meant to fall in love.” Repeating the words that Carmilla had said earlier in the day back in J.P’s office. She glances over at Carmilla and sees that she’s smiling approvingly. Carmilla turns her head to look at Matska and nods, confirming what Laura had just said.

An idea suddenly strikes Laura. It might be the alcohol that's currently hazing her thoughts, or maybe she just really wants payback on Carmilla. She also has wanted this for years but never got it, and now is the perfect opportunity and Carmilla won't be able to refuse.

“You see, we couldn't tell anyone we worked with because of the big promotion I had coming up.” She smirks over at Carmilla, happy to see her boss thrown off her master plan for once.

“Your… Promotion.” She repeats Laura trying to process what just happened.

“We both thought it would be deeply inappropriate that I be promoted to Editor while we were…” She leaves the end off, leaving Matska to fill in the blanks. She glances over at Carmilla and sees that she has her eyes narrowed but there is amusement shining in them.

“I see… Okay. Well have either of you told your parents about your star crossed love?.” Matska says, she doesn't seem to be buying into their story but is letting it go for now.

“Oh uh. Impossible. My mother and brother are both dead and I never knew my father. So I have no remaining family.” Carmilla says matter of factly.

“What are your parents dead?” Mattie lets out a breathy laugh as she turns to face Laura again.

“Oh no! Her’s are very much alive. We’ll we were going to tell them this weekend. It’s Gammie’s 90th birthday and we were going to go home and have a nice surprise for them.” Carmilla smiles over at Matska.

Laura is dumbfounded. She isn't shocked that Carmilla had jumped in and answered the question for her, she’s floored that she actually knew these things about her. She actually did listen and retain some of the things Laura tells her about. There is a warm feeling in her chest, but she writes it off as the alcohol churning in her stomach from nerves.

“And where is this birthday gathering and surprise going to be taking place?” Matska asks them. Laura is still staring at Carmilla, trying to figure out why she’s doing this. She’s never shown that she remembered things about her before. Of course she starts doing it when her job is on the line.

“At Laura’s dad’s house.” Matska leans forward on her desk, she looks too intrigued. Almost like she just picked up on something that could bust them.

“And where exactly is that again?”

“Why am I doing all the talking? It's your dad’s house. Tell her where it is.” Carmilla lets out a breathy laugh.

Laura smirks at Carmilla because she has no idea where she’s from. Not once in the 3 years that she’s been working for Carmilla has she mentioned where she came from. She starts giggling now because she knows the reaction it'll give Carmilla. Laura looks back over at Matska.

“Sitka” Carmilla echoes her response.

“Alaska” Laura sits back in her chair, making a satisfied noise at the minor details of panic she just noticed in Carmilla. Her hands gripped her handbag harder. Her eyes went wide. Her voice raised an octave, as she repeated Laura’s answer again, which is a rarity. It's been a long time since she’s seen Carmilla so unprepared for something. It’s quite amusing to Laura.

“You're going to go to Alaska this weekend?” Matska says in a dull voice.

Laura just smiles and nods at her. Pleased with how the situation has turned for her.

“Yes we are going to go to Alaska. Thats where my little cupcake is from” Carmilla reaches over to place a hand on Laura’s shoulder. She reaches to touch her hand but Carmilla pulls it away too fast.

“Okay fine. I see how this is going to go. I will see you both at 11 am, Monday morning ready to start the interviews.” Matska writes down their time on a card and stands up to give it to them.

Laura stands to take the card from her hand.

“Thank you.” She smiles at her before turning to see that Carmilla has answered a phone call.

“I'm looking forward to this one.” Matska smirks at them.

Laura and Carmilla exit the building and walk out onto the streets of New York. Things went better than she was expecting. She proposed a job promotion that Carmilla won't be able to turn down if she wants Laura to marry her. She won't be out on the streets and she won't be jobless. She even gets to go home, even if Carmilla has to come. She even feeling optimistic that she might not have to go to jail if they pull this off. The only downside to this?

She still has to marry Carmilla Karnstein.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by The movie The Proposal. Obviously I don't own any rights to this. 
> 
> Follow me and come talk to me about the fic on tumblr carmillachangedme.tumblr.com or on twitter @fandomlyfe :)))))) 
> 
> Thank you to every one who reads this fic, its my first multi-chapter fic and i hope it doesnt turn into a train wreck.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a fixed update scheduale. I will try and update regularly though! Come talk to me about the fic at my tumblr carmillachangedme.tumblr.com


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